Chapter 1 - Discoveries

"Well Miguel, you've done it again," a teacher spoke to him, along with a smile on the teacher's face as he handed him back his final exam. The score was straightforward: 97%. An excellent grade, according to his teacher. Miguel wasn't that amused, though, since he prepared himself for this test, and he even did the review, in which he would get 10 extra points of credit on the test, which ultimately meant he aced the test with flying colors. "Oh, I knew you would be able to pull something off like this," the teacher spoke again, still trying to act like it was some sort of big deal or something.

"Yeah, I knew I would pass the test," Miguel simply stated to his teacher, with just a barely noticeable grin on his face. Of course, on the inside, he wasn't that amused. He knew he was going to pass the test anyway, thanks for the studying he had to do, as well as the review. Still, he had to play along and act as if it were a big deal to him. "Honestly, I keep this up and I may just end up being the top kid in your class."

"Considering how well you've been doing in my class, that may just be the case!" His teacher exclaimed to him; at this point he was just overexaggerating the whole ordeal. Miguel just had to watch as he jumped about, not like he was embarrassed about it, though. The only person that the teacher was embarrassing was himself. Just the thought of that made Miguel smile a bit, but only a bit. Nonetheless, he was satisfied with his score, and he was glad he passed. With his last class going to be over soon, he slowly but surely began to pack himself up and wait for the bell to ring, so that he can leave the class, end the junior year and head over to San Juan. He was going to pass the year with great grades; A's and B's to be more exact.

With a final ring, everyone got out of their seats and went for the door. The school year had finally come to its close. All the students were talking amongst themselves, some with their friends they've known for a while, and others with their girlfriends and boyfriends. They talked amongst each other, exchanging information about what they're gonna do for the summer, about their summer jobs to save up some money, or just general talk amongst themselves. Miguel paid no attention to them, however, as he was just more focused about getting himself home and moving on to spend the summer with his grandparents at San Juan.

"Well, looks like you've finally pulled it off," Ivan said to his younger brother, checking his grades on Aeries. They were nothing but A's and B's, but mostly A's, to his surprise. He felt content and satisfied with his brother's work, seeing that he did have the potential to pull off something like this, let alone finally finish a year with no missing assignments. "And seeing that you're here, I guess he let you spend the summer here with us."

"Yeah," Miguel responded to him, also feeling content with his effort and work. To be honest with himself, he didn't actually think he would end the spring semester strong, and yet he did anyway. He believed that his uncle's ways of helping him get through school without any missing assignments or bad test scores really paid off now. Alas, however, he felt that it wasn't his uncle, but it was himself who managed to pull something off like this.

Happy with his work, Miguel now didn't have to worry about school so much anymore; next year was going to be his last year of high school, he was already on the path to graduation. He just needs to get his community service hours in, though. For now, however, none of that mattered until the next school year began anew. He could now spend his days worry-free with his grandparents, helping them out as much as he could, and hopefully opening up the shop again and helping out his grandmother with the sales. For now, he could put school aside.

"This summer's going to be like every other summer," he continued, his moment of reprise subsiding, "just helping around the house, and hopefully the shop, as much as I can."

"Tell me about it," his brother stated, "I managed to get some upgrades for my gaming computer, so now it can run games faster and better. I got myself a new job which pays more money than that other job at the pizza place."

"Well good for you," Miguel commented. He didn't really care about his brother's gaming computer, though he does let him use it so long as he doesn't mess anything up on it, but he was glad that his brother got a new job that paid more, so that he could save up for even bigger things in life he was gonna need. Miguel knew that he was gonna need a job soon, too. He felt, however, that he just wasn't ready yet.

Miguel then took a sniff of the air, wanting to take in some fresh air. It was then that his pupils shrunk, much like a stare. This smell, this scent. Something about it was off. His breathing suddenly became much more frequent and shaky, it was then that his eyes were subjected to...something. Hallucinogenic visions of what seems to be a dead animal. He couldn't identify what animal it was, because the vision was just shrouded in nothing but vantablack. It almost felt as if he were experiencing an episode; a sudden one, if you will.

"Miguel? Miguel?" It was his brother's voice that suddenly snapped him back to reality. His breathing became stable again, his eyes were back to their normal size. The visions were gone, and all that he was left with was his brother looking right at him, wondering what the hell he was experiencing. "You alright? You look as if something just happened."

Miguel was hesitant to respond; if he were honest, he had no idea what just happened there. He was just taking a sniff of the air, and he had no idea what he smelt, but whatever it was, it was quite obvious, even to him, that it was just sudden and abnormal. Regardless of his current position, however, he knew he had to say something.

"Yeah, yeah no I'm good," He responded to his brother, trying to assure him that he was fine, "Yeah, I'm still good. I don't know what happened back there, but whatever it was, I'm sure it was just my mind playing tricks on me."

"Yeah," his brother simply responded, still a little weirded from what just happened there. "Anyway, I've got to go to work now. Don't do anything weird while I'm gone. Grandma and Grandpa should be back soon."

"Yeah, see you around," Miguel commented, as his brother then took his leave into his SUV and drove off, leaving his younger brother home alone. Not that he couldn't care for himself, of course, because he could. Miguel was fine on his own, but even then, what happened just there, seemed kinda off even for someone as weird as Miguel. Sure, he still acted pretty crazy when he was alone at times, but even so, Miguel was pretty mature when other family members were around to celebrate the holidays. What happened there, according to his brother's thoughts, wasn't like Miguel at all.

As for Miguel, he spent the rest of the time before his grandparents came back to clean whatever needed to be cleaned, which isn't a lot unfortunately. He tidied the kitchen, made sure that the dirty dishes were placed in the dishwasher and turned it on, made sure his bathroom was clean, and tidied his room to make it look presentable. With what little time he had left, he just relaxed on his bed, looking at his tablet, taking another sniff in the air.

There it was again, that same smell from before. He couldn't tell what exactly he was smelling, but there was definitely a hint of...blood. The difference now is that the smell became even stronger than before, and the visions were back too, only this time, they appeared clearer than it was initially. Except now, what lay there in front of him, was not a dead animal, no. It looked like...a corpse. A human corpse, blood all over the area, as if the victim succumbed to hemorrhage. The scent was only getting stronger and stronger, and the visions clearer and clearer; it was just too much even for Miguel to handle.

A jolt of pain taking the form of a cold, silver bullet struck the back of his head, causing him to yell in pain as he collapsed to the ground on his knees, his hands on the sides of his head. The pain was almost excruciating, so much that it was unbearable, the most Miguel could do was yell out in pain as the pain only got worse. His pupils again have also shrunk in size, only now that the pupil of his right eye was changing. It was taking the form of a plus symbol, eventually completing its change.

It happened almost instantaneously. It didn't take long for the boy to notice that something was wrong, as upon inspection of both his arms, he was shocked and terrified to see that they were both slowly changing into claws, brown and a little oversized, with fur too. His legs, too, were also taking a new form, with a lighter colour, and also growing fur. His head was also changing as well, much like he was growing in height and feeling so strange, it was taking the form of a mascot head; a dog's mascot head, to be more exact, forming a spiked smile, large eyes, the nose, and everything you would expect from a fursuit head. The only thing is that now it was oversized, and forming as if it were his head as well.

The pain was the worst part. All the while he was slowly forming, the pain was still present the whole time. He could feel it, the ever-lasting jolt of pain throbbing on the back of his head, not wanting to go away and leave him be. It was already bad enough to be transforming into some sort of abomination, but the pain that was still present all the while just had to take the cake. It just wouldn't leave him alone, he just wanted it all to stop.

Then, it was finished. The transformation had finally come to its end, as did the pain as well. The visions were gone, as the smell too. Miguel just simply lay there, completely transformed into his new form. He didn't know what he looked like, he didn't even know what the hell he was now. In fact, he was too scared to even know what became of himself. Though he was quick to recover, however, as he managed to get himself back onto his feet, his head felt a little groggy.

"Ugh...fuck," he moaned to himself, still feeling groggy after everything he went through, "what the fuck happened to me?"

He struggled to walk around, mostly because of his new form and trying his best to get used to it. He took a look around to see if anyone was in the house. They haven't arrived. Not yet, at least. That was a good sign, and just the thought of it made him sigh in relief. Regardless of his current situation, however, he had to remain calm, and try to make sense of his situation. The first thing he had to do was to go into the bathroom and to take a good look at himself.

Entering into the bathroom, he kept his head looking down, afraid of what his face would look like. He needed to calm himself and to assure that he wasn't some sort of deformed monster or anything like that for any matter, and he sure hoped that this transformation he went through was not permanent, either. After taking some deep breaths and taking a nod, he looked up at the mirror to reveal what he had become, ultimately leaving him surprised.

The monster he had become takes the form of a dog mascot. A fursuit. A fucking fursuit of all the things he could turn into. It's eyes were large, with one pupil being normal while the other pupil took the shape of a plus symbol. It also had a nose, much expected with most suits. It's smile, however, is what creeped him out a bit. It's smile was almost sinister, a sharpened grin, always smiling. He wondered if the smile was permanently fixed onto the face, or if it could move as he spoke, or show some expression. He was shown to be wearing overalls, which connected to his pants, and a gun holster with an oversized revolver. The sight of the revolver made him shudder even more, however; he hoped that it wasn't a real gun, because if it was, then lord knows how much trouble he could get himself into with a live firearm.

"I know this was supposed to be scary and all," he spoke to himself, sweating a bit in fear, "but now this is just more than weird. This is just embarrassing."

He just looked down at himself; of all the things he could have turned into, he just had to turn into this? He felt more embarrassed than he was scared. Before he could investigate himself further, though, he heard a truck pull into the driveway of the house. "Shit, they're here!" he thought to himself, starting to sweat again due to stress. "I can't let them see me like this!" He thought again to himself, "Who knows how they'll react if they spot me like this!"

It was so sudden when he placed his hands back onto his head, because as soon as he did, he began to quickly revert, and soon enough, he was back to the way he was before: a human. The sight of this left him bewildered and baffled. "So...it's not permanent," He spoke to himself, "I can change into that willingly."

Then there was knocking on the door, expecting him to unlock the door and let them in. He was quick to act on this, as he soon hollered out, "I'm coming!" and went for the door. He didn't know what the hell just happened back there, but now he knew that was completely not normal at all, not even a single bit.

The rest of the day went as expected. He helped out around the house, ate some dinner, and when his grandparents finally went to their room to settle for the night, he was in the living room, playing some video games and trying to relax himself. The event of the sudden transformation, however, was left engraved into his memories. So much that it left him kinda scarred, though. He didn't want to talk about it, even with Orion when he asked what was wrong when they were playing together. He just wanted to move on from it and hopefully forget that it ever happened.

And then his brother came home, not in the way he would normally expect. He went through the front door as usual, but he was completely silent. When Miguel turned around to greet him, he was met with a scared and concerned expression on his face, which only worsened Miguel's stress. Why the hell is he like this? Did something happen at work that he doesn't want to talk about it? Or perhaps he witnessed something truly terrifying? Even Miguel did not know for sure, and he wasn't sure that he wanted to know either.

"Ivan?" Miguel began, with a worried look on his face, "What's wrong? You look like you've seen some shit."

"Miguel." He started, shaking a bit with faint breathing, "I need you to come with me. We need to talk. Privately."

Miguel simply nodded as he walked with his brother into his room, closing the door behind them, as he took a seat onto his bed. He let out a deep sigh, before looking at his brother directly into his eyes.

"Miguel," he continued, his breathing a little shaky, "I need you to answer me this. Have you felt that your body just...changed?"

The question left Miguel hesitant to answer; should he break out the truth and give in, or should he use a white lie to try and get him out of this situation? Even he did not know what to do at this point. He had already experienced his body change, there was no turning back now. With a nod and a deep sigh, he had to respond, and in an honest fashion.

"Yes," he simply responded to his brother's question, "a few hours ago before Grandma and Grandpa got back, something just...changed within me. It was like I just lost my humanity or something. I transformed into this...monster. It took the form of a fucking fursuit, for god's sake! I was able to turn back to normal before they got back, but even so, the whole thing left me scared for a while, at least until you got back."

His brother just quivered in fear after hearing his answer. Miguel wasn't sure why he would ask him such a question like that. Was he going to call the authorities on him? Or perhaps he was going to expose his little secret to the world? Inspecting his facial expressions further, however, it was clear that something was wrong. Could it be? Was it entirely possible that his brother...experienced the same thing too?

"No…" Miguel started, fear building into his emotional system, "You're not telling me that it happened to you, are you?"

"Yes," his brother simply responded, "I was just minding my own business at work, just doing my job, you know? I began to hear voices running through my mind. I couldn't understand what they were saying, but I was able to make out two words that they were saying: "Service weapon." I was starting to freak out, and when I looked at my right hand, the next thing you know, it was holding some sort of gun, which only made me freak out even more. The manager came to see if I was alright, and I was able to make it go away."

He was still shaking in fear, still shocked as to what happened. Miguel just felt bad for him; why was this happening to them? What did they do to deserve this? Will this ever wear off and never happen again to them? What will become of them? So many questions, and with no possible answers in sight, either. They were stuck in the forest of questions and answers, with no end in sight at all.

"Listen," he continued, still shaking a little, "I'm still trying to process this whole thing that just happened to me right now, so I think I'll get some sleep. You should get some sleep too."

"Yeah," Miguel responded, retaining a calm manner towards his brother, "Maybe some sleep will help us calm our minds, and hopefully that this is all just some sort of sick joke."

With that, he simply nodded, as Miguel made his way out of his brother's room and back into his own, moments before he closed the door. Stepping into his room, he closed the door behind him, and let out a deep sigh. He then transformed again, only this time it wasn't by impulse, but through his own will, and thanks to his current calm state, he was able to transform into his mascot form relatively quickly, almost instantaneously.

He looked down at his hands; they were like paws, save for the claws at the end, however. So this is what he could be now, a new form he could transform into, be it willingly or by impulse. This is what he was now: a monster that can turn into a fucking furry dog. Anger began to rise inside of him; internally he was so mad. So much that he didn't even know how to be mad. He just felt ashamed of what he had become. Surely, there could have been so many things he could have transformed into that could turn out to be cool and everything, anything that was possible. Just anything, but no. Out of everything that he could take the form of, it just HAD to be this.

Regardless of that, there wasn't much he could do about it; there didn't seem to be any way to reverse the effects and regain his humanity again yet, and trying to find a way to reverse the effects, if there even is a way, would be time-consuming as well. Alas, the only thing that he could do as of now was to just get used to this new form and to adapt to his current situation. It wasn't the best way to approach something like this, but what other choice did he have? It would be boring, but it would at least allow him to get to know his new form better, and it would also lead him to have a better understanding of his situation. He was lucky, now that he thought about it some more. Most people would have completely lost it and did something stupid that would put their life in jeopardy.

He looked back down to see the gun inside of the holster. "Is this a real gun that I can operate?" He thought to himself, as he slowly but surely pulled the revolver out of the holster and held it in his hands. There was no doubt about it. This thing is an oversized revolver, the size being for the current form he is in. A Smith and Wesson .357 Magnum, to be more exact. He was no firearms expert, but he's played enough light gun games and airsoft to know how to handle and operate a firearm. Never in his life has he ever used a live firearm before, however. "I wonder if it works," he thought to himself again, moments before looking outside, then looking back down at his revolver.

"I guess there's only one way to find out…"